Educating All Learners Alliance

5 Minutes with Miami Lighthouse Academy

For today’s episode, we spoke with Liana De Angelis, the Director of Miami Lighthouse Academy. The Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired is a nonprofit organization for blind individuals of all ages. One of their departments is the Miami Lighthouse Academy. The academy maintains a full inclusion program where 50% of students in their classrooms are blind and visually impaired and the other 50% are sighted role models. Throughout this episode we go over a recent case study that EALA collaboratively created with Miami Lighthouse Academy, as well as a multi-year long study that the school has participated in and what outcomes will result from this research.

 

Mentioned People/Resources:

• Miami Lighthouse Academy: https://www.miamilighthouse.org/MiamiLighthouseAcademy.asp
• Latest EALA case study with Miami Lighthouse: https://educatingalllearners.org/case-studies/miami-lighthouse-how-one-school-innovated-on-their-inclusion-model-for-early-learners-during-covid19-for-lasting-change/
• The Active Learner Journal: http://miamilighthouse.org/Docs/HSActiveLearner_2019ArticleOnly.pdf

 

More information on the Educating All Learners Alliance:

Website: www.educatingalllearners.org

Twitter: @educateall_org

YouTube: Educating All Learners

Spotlight with CNN Hero David Flink

For today’s episode, we were joined by Eye to Eye’s Chief Empowerment Officer, David Flink. David has been recently named a CNN Hero. CNN Heroes are categorized as everyday people doing extraordinary things to change the world. David has had an incredible journey of experiencing a learning disability himself, and using that to help and connect with other students, ever since he was 18 years old. It was his initial step to reach out and connect with others that started the idea for Eye to Eye. Within this episode he addressed questions such as: what does being the Chief Empowerment Officer of Eye to Eye mean to you and what do you see as some of the next steps in education for students with disabilities?

 

Mentioned People/Resources:

• CNN Hero Announcement: https://eyetoeyenational.org/press/eye-to-eye-chief-empowerment-officer-david-flink-named-cnn-hero
• Information on Eye to Eye: https://eyetoeyenational.org

More information on the Educating All Learners Alliance:

• Website: www.educatingalllearners.org
• Twitter: @educateall_org
• YouTube: Educating All Learners

Identity and Self Determination with Dr. Temple Lovelace

This podcast episode features Dr. Temple Lovelace and an incredible program she has worked on, called Girlhood Rising. Dr. Lovelace is an Associate Professor of Special Education at Duquesne University. In her work with Girlhood Rising, Dr. Lovelace noticed the erasure of many young girls’ childhoods because of the pressure to mature or take on additional responsibility, due to various circumstances and societal influence. As she started this work, she asked a few questions: How can I prevent erasure of girls’ childhoods and how do we allow girls to understand their own abilities and learn about themselves? Tune in to the episode to learn about the powerful impact Girlhood Rising has had on many students and the work to come from the project.

 

Mentioned People/Resources:

• Girlhood Rising website: https://www.equityxinnovation.com/girlhood-rising/
• Helpful Living Magazine article: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DPejonIrsaOepq4RIHBGtGHQjeG4g-Ec/view?usp=sharing

More information on the Educating All Learners Alliance:

• Website: www.educatingalllearners.org
• Twitter: @educateall_org
• YouTube: Educating All Learners

5 Minutes with Ryan Baker on Bias in Artificial Intelligence

On today's episode, we sat down with Ryan Baker, an Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania and directs the Penn Center for Learning Analytics. In Ryan’s work he’s done much research and analysis on the impact on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education and how it impacts a range of learners. We asked him a few questions specific to students with disabilities and how we can analyze AI’s ability to help all students. A few of the questions discussed were ‘what impact does bias truly have on AI and ‘what opportunities are there for individuals with disabilities with current and future AI.’

 

Mentioned People/Resources:

• Info on Ryan Baker: https://www.upenn.edu/learninganalytics/ryanbaker/
• Ryan Baker’s work on Algorithmic Bias in Education: https://edarxiv.org/pbmvz/download?format=pdf
• René F. Kizilcec and Hansol Lee’s work on Algorithmic Fairness in Education: https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/2007/2007.05443.pdf

More information on the Educating All Learners Alliance:

• Website: www.educatingalllearners.org
• Twitter: @educateall_org
• YouTube: Educating All Learners

5 Minutes with Educating for American Democracy

This podcast episode features Ace Parsi, the Outreach and Dissemination Lead with Educating for American Democracy. The Educating for American Democracy initiative involves a diverse collaboration among over 300 academics, historians, political scientists, K–12 educators, district and state administrators, civics providers, students, and others from across the country. Ace discussed how civics education can impact students with disabilities and hopes for the future of all learners.

Mentioned People/Resources:

• Educating for American Democracy website: https://www.educatingforamericandemocracy.org
• Two organizations leading disability rights efforts at EAD: Learning Disabilities Association of America and Emerging America
• Roadmap: https://ldaamerica.org/ead-roadmap/

 

More information on the Educating All Learners Alliance:

Website: www.educatingalllearners.org

Twitter: @educateall_org

YouTube: Educating All Learners

Recommendations for ARP Spending with the Center for Learner Equity

One of EALA's Founding Partners, the Center for Learner Equity (CLE), joined us for a discussion on their new resource The Rising Tide that Lifts All Boats: Investing Stimulus Dollars with an Equity Focus. In this report, CLE provides several specific strategies that districts, schools, and educators should consider to optimize the positive impact of stimulus dollars on students, especially those with disabilities. They encourage decision-makers to be mindful of the need to pace the allocation of resources over the entire authorized period to optimize the impact of all efforts in a comprehensive way. We encourage all school stakeholders to check this out!

 

Find the new resource here: https://www.centerforlearnerequity.org/news/stimulus/

 

More information on the Educating All Learners Alliance:

Website: www.educatingalllearners.org

Twitter: @educateall_org

YouTube: Educating All Learners

5 Minutes with Pivot Learning on Intervention

For today’s episode we’re joined by Arun Ramanathan, who is the CEO of Pivot Learning. At Pivot Learning, they serve educators and leaders in high-need school districts to ensure academic rigor for all students through support for great teaching, proactive intervention, and aligned district systems – including  curriculum implementation and reform for special education. Arun shared his thoughts on how schools and districts can transform the learning environment for students, including interventions.

 

Pivot Learning's website: pivotlearning.org

 

More information on the Educating All Learners Alliance:

Website: www.educatingalllearners.org

Twitter: @educateall_org

YouTube: Educating All Learners

Learning Loss vs Schooling Loss with Kelly Niccolls

This podcast episode features Kelly Niccols. Kelly has been an educator for fourteen years. She began her career teaching in Southern California and has helped schools and systems reimagine teaching and learning, as well as serving as a school administrator. She is currently a Deeper Learning Equity Fellow and member of the Getting Smart Advisory Board, driven by the relentless belief in the possibility of social justice within education systems. Kelly focuses her education leadership on re-imagining structures for teaching and learning in order to empower all students for the future. After writing an article about the concept of ‘schooling loss’ we had her join us to discuss the why behind this phrasing and its potential impact on students.

 

Mentioned People/Resources:

• Kelly Niccolls’ article about schooling loss: https://www.gettingsmart.com/2021/01/getting-clearer-schooling-loss-not-learning-loss/
• Getting Smart’s website: https://www.gettingsmart.com
• Promising Practices to Accelerate Learning for Students with Disabilities During COVID-19 and Beyond: https://www.ncld.org/reports-studies/promising-practices-to-accelerate-learning-for-students-with-disabilities-during-covid-19-and-beyond/

 

More information on the Educating All Learners Alliance:

Website: www.educatingalllearners.org

Twitter: @educateall_org

YouTube: Educating All Learners

5 Minutes with SELF

This podcast episode features 5 minutes with SELF. SELF is an organization that empowers schools to be welcoming and effective communities for ALL students by developing the capacity of stakeholders through coaching, guidance in systems development, and collaborative trainings. Throughout the 5 minute episode, we spoke with SELF’s Executive Director, Aqua Stovall, and she shared about their Special Education Leader Fellowship, which was created to meet the need for high-quality special educational programming in schools. The Fellowship program develops special education and RTI leaders, aspiring leaders, and their principals to create high-impact programs for students with learning exceptionalities. These programs serve 3200 students across 45 schools. Check out their website for more information!

 

Mentioned People/Resources:

SELF’s website: https://www.selfnola.org

 

More information on the Educating All Learners Alliance:

Website: www.educatingalllearners.org

Twitter: @educateall_org

YouTube: Educating All Learners

Building Empathy for All Learners with Eye to Eye

On today's episode, we're joined by Robby Brice and David Badillo from one of EALA’s partner organizations, Eye to Eye. Emily Art. Eye to Eye’s mission is to improve the life of every young person with learning differences like learning disabilities (LD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Through their programs, they train high school and college students with learning differences, including dyslexia and ADHD, to mentor similarly-identified middle school students.

 

Mentioned People/Resources:

• Eye to Eye’s website: https://eyetoeyenational.org
• Learning Differently 101: https://eyetoeyenational.org/assets/downloads/One-Sheet-Educators.pdf
• CNN video on Eye to Eye’s Founder, David Flink: https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/18/us/learning-disabilities-education-dyslexia-adhd-mentorship-cnnheroes/index.html

 

More information on the Educating All Learners Alliance:

Website: www.educatingalllearners.org

Twitter: @educateall_org

YouTube: Educating All Learners